5.  The applicant was born in 1961. He is currently serving his prison sentence in Pechora prison (Komi Republic).
6.  On 20 December 2001 a judge at the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan (Верховный суд Републики Башкорстан) ordered the interception of the applicant’s telephone calls.
7.  On 19 January 2002 the applicant was arrested and remanded in custody on suspicion of several counts of theft and aggravated murder. The prosecution’s case was that the applicant, the chief security officer of the joint stock company “Bashneft” (АНК «Башнефть»), together with other security officers, had repeatedly stolen petroleum products from Tuymazy gas-processing plant (Туймазинский газоперерабатывающий завод) belonging to ”Bashneft”. The applicant was also accused of having killed O., a presumed accomplice, in order to cover up the criminal activity.
8.  On 23 November 2002 a senior investigator of the Bashkortostan Prosecution Office (Прокуратура Републики Башкорстан) dismissed the applicant’s complaints concerning different investigation steps. The applicant argued, inter alia, that:
“As it appears from a comparison of the audio records with the printed records of telephone conversations, the records concerning the telephone conversations of [the applicant] show traces of forgery, the audio cassettes contain much less conversations than the printed records. Consequently, it is impossible to establish the time of each conversation. The annotation of the conversations shows that they were forged.
...
One of the groups which was looking for [O.] ... on 14 January 2002, was headed by ... the brother of co-defendant [Nu.]. It follows that there are reasonable doubts as to the truthfulness of the testimony given by this witness.”
9.  The prosecutor stated in his decision in particular that:
“There is no need to examine the audio records on the audio cassettes Nos. 613, 933 and 137, as there are no reasons to consider that the said audio records are forged or that any other modifications were made. Apart from this, many of the audio records ... do not concern the subject of the investigation .... The most important audio records were submitted to [forensic experts] who confirmed that the records did not show any signs of forgery or any other modifications made in the course of the recording or afterwards.”
10.  In the proceedings, the applicant and certain co-defendants pleaded not guilty. The remaining co-defendants pleaded guilty in part. Some of them, including co-defendant Nu. in respect of the theft on the night of 6 December 2001, also confessed to having falsely accused the applicant during the pre-trial investigation under pressure from the police officers. The records of telephone conversations between persons involved in the petroleum thefts were also admitted in evidence. In this respect, the applicant submitted at trial that the audio cassettes with the records of these conversations showed traces of forgery and that the evidence of the forensic expert had been carried out contrary to the law. He stated that he had never had any conversation with anybody in respect of the stealing of petroleum products from Tuymazy gas-processing plant.
11.  On 16 June 2003 a judge at the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan found the applicant guilty as charged and sentenced him to twenty years’ imprisonment.
12.  With respect to the theft of petroleum products on the night of 6 December 2001, the court heard O.’s mother and V. with whom O. lived in partnership. It also relied on statements by witness N. given during the pre-trial investigation, in which he confirmed that a man named Vladimir (the applicant’s first name) had approached him offering to find buyers for petroleum products and that they had made a deal on 5 and 6 December 2001. He also stated that on 6 December 2001 at about 4 or 5 a.m., he had given RUB 50,000 to Vladimir. According to him, he did not know that Vladimir had been selling the petroleum products illegally. These facts were corroborated by corresponding telephone records between N. and the subscriber of a mobile phone which was used by the applicant. In this respect, the court noted:
“According to the records of the telephone conversations between [N.] on mobile phone ‘8-901-475-5808’ and the subscriber of mobile phone number’“8-293-38-266’ (this telephone was used by [the applicant]) [N.] began talking with the subscriber on 19 November 2001, talked with the same subscriber a few times on 4 December 2001, and from 3.45 pm on 5 December 2001 until 5.10 am on 6 December 2001 talked with him on 24 occasions.”
13.  The court further took into account the pre-trial submissions of witnesses S., Kha., Na. and G., none of whom appeared at the trial. The witnesses described, inter alia, the events of 5 and 6 December 2001 but did not say anything about the applicant’s direct participation in the theft. The court decided to read out their statements, on the grounds that it had been impossible to ensure their attendance. It appears from the documents in the case file that witnesses Kha. and Na. did not attend the trial since they had been on mission, and that witness Si. (see paragraph 20 below) and G. had apologised for not attending due to family reasons.
14.  The court further referred to material from the investigation in which witness Na. had shown the places where the cisterns had entered the premises of the petroleum company.
15.  The judgment also referred to the pre-trial statements of co-defendants Mi., Mu. and Gu., which were inconsistent with their evidence at trial, one of them indicating the applicant as a person who had been on the premises of the petroleum company on the relevant night. The court finally relied on certain material evidence relating to the time in question.
16.  As regards the theft of petroleum products on the nights from 29 to 30 December 2001 and from 11 to 12 January 2002, the applicant, together with certain co-defendants, pleaded not guilty at trial. Due to the inconsistencies between the co-defendants’ pleadings at trial and their pre-trial statements, the court relied on their original declarations from which it appeared that the applicant had assured the free passage of fuel trucks onto the premises of the territory of the petroleum company. The court stated in this respect that their original statements were consistent with other evidence contained in the case file and given at trial.
17.  In respect of both thefts, the court further relied on the pre-trial submissions of witnesses Si., Gi., A., T. and Sh., who had failed to appear at the trial. They did not mention that the applicant had been involved in the theft, merely describing the events of that night. The applicant allegedly objected to the reading out of the statements which they had made at the pre-trial stage, on the grounds that he wished to examine these witnesses in person. According to him, his objections were rejected.
Moreover, the court heard witness Khu. whose pre-trial testimony had also been read out because of certain contradictions with his statement at trial. According to the court, his pre-trial statements were consistent with the pre-trial statements of witnesses Si., Gi., A. and T.
18.  In respect of the theft on the night from 11 to 12 January 2002, the applicant and three co-detainees pleaded not guilty and three co-defendants pleaded partly guilty. It appears from the judgment that at trial co-defendant Nu. stated that he had been forced to incriminate the applicant and co-defendants B. and Sh., having been put under pressure by the police officers at the pre-trial stage.
19.  The court further relied on the recorded telephone conversations stating, in particular, that:
“... the guilt of the defendants in respect of the theft of petroleum products on the nights from 29 to 30 December 2001 and from 11 to 12 January 2002 is confirmed by the records of the inspection on the site and the examination of the audio cassettes containing the telephone conversations from the mobile number used by [the applicant]. For example, on the nights of 29 December 2001, 30 December 2001, 11 and 12 January 2002 at night there were phone calls from the number used by [the applicant] to the mobile phones of [O.], [co-defendant Sh.]; [the audio cassettes also contained] the phone calls to the work phone of [co-defendants Nu.]. The conversations concerned the journey of petrol tankers which arrived in order to collect petroleum products, the fact that the petroleum tanker had been detained on 12 January 2002 ...
At trial these audio cassettes ... were examined and ... [O.’s mother] and [co-defendant Nu.] recognised the voices of [O.], [of the applicant and defendants Sh. and his own voice].”
The court also heard three employees of the petroleum company who described the relevant circumstances of the theft in question.
20.  According to the Government, the statements of absent witnesses S., Na., G., Si., Gi., A. and T. and Sh. did not incriminate the applicant, as they only described the circumstances of the theft and did not provide any information suggesting that the applicant had participated in the offence.
The Government also state that the Russian authorities took all possible measures to ensure the witnesses’ attendance. They note that by a court order of 24 January 2003, the absent witnesses were summoned to appear at trial. That order was to be enforced by the Bashkortostan and Tatarstan authorities respectively, neither of which succeeded in bringing the witnesses before the court. The case file includes telegrams and official reports containing information as to why witnesses G., Si., Na. and Kha. were absent (see also paragraph 13 above).
21.  With respect to the murder of O., the court relied on statements of the victim’s parents and partner during the trial, recordings of his telephone conversations with the applicant, and the results of several expert examinations. The court noted, inter alia, that:
“In accordance with the records of the telephone conversations of [O.], he regularly contacted [the applicant] who used the mobile phone number ‘8-902-38-266’, registered in the name of his wife ...
...
[O.] made the last call from his mobile phone to the home number of his mother (6-21-63) on 14 January 2002 at 6.48.52 pm., which is consistent with the testimony of [his mother] given at trial in which she stated that this was precisely the time at which her son had called home and said that [the applicant] was killing him ...”
The court examined the reasons submitted by [the applicant] and his representatives for claiming that the surveillance of the telephone conversations had been carried out contrary to the criminal procedure laws and the Constitution ... on the grounds that the permission for the surveillance granted by the Supreme Court had been given in respect of the mobile phone of [the applicant], while the police officers had in fact carried out surveillance of the mobile phone of his wife ...
...
As it appears from the judgment of the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan of 20 December 2001 ... the permission related to the surveillance of the telephone conversations at the applicant’s home and ... place of work, as well as the surveillance of the mobile phone of [the applicant]. The court clearly established that [the applicant] had used the mobile phone “8-293 (or 902)-38-266” which was registered in the name of his wife ...”
22.  In his grounds of appeal the applicant complained, inter alia, that the trial court had not secured the attendance of the key witnesses N. and other witnesses. He also stated that the records of the telephone conversations were not officially certified and, therefore, could be forged.
23.  On 24 September 2003 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the judgment finding that the court of first instance had correctly assessed the facts established during the court proceedings and had reached the right legal conclusions. It stated, inter alia, that the fact that on the night to 12 January 2002 an organised group involving the employees of the plant and paramilitary protection unit, together with a member of the road police (State Inspectorate for Road Safety - государственная инспекция по безопасности дорожного движения (ГИБДД)) committed the theft of the petroleum products to the value of RUB 34,483.56 was established on the basis of the statements of three co-defendants given at the trial.
24.  It further stated that the applicant’s guilt in this case, as well as his guilt of the thefts on the nights to 6 and 30 December 2001 respectively, was confirmed by the testimony of four co-defendants, by the statement of witness N. as to the handover of RUB 50,000 to the applicant, by the content of the transcription of the applicant’s telephone conversations with the above co-defendants according to which the applicant had several times spoken about the different matters relating to the theft, by the record of the inspection of the scene and of cistern KAMAZ and its trailer, by the investigation experiments and by other evidence which had been described in detail in the first instance judgment.
25.  The Supreme Court added that, according to the records of the confrontations between the applicant and other persons, including two of co-defendants M. and Nu., who had denounced his involvement in the thefts, the applicant had not denied their assertions but had left them “without comments”.
26.  In respect of the applicant’s allegation that the audio records were forged, the court noted that the expert forensic report showed no traces of forgery or any other modifications.
27.  The applicant was held in Ufa IZ-3/1 pre-trial detention facility (ФБУ ИЗ-1/3 ГУФСИН г. Уфы) from 10 May to 20 December 2002 and from 7 February to 21 December 2003. According to the Government, on 21 December 2003 the applicant was transported to Mikunsky ULIU prison in the Komi Republic (Микуньское УЛИУ ГРОВД Республики Коми) to serve the rest of his sentence. Moreover, from 20 December 2002 to 7 February 2003 he was detained in the temporary detention unit at Tuymazinsky police station (ИВС ГРОВД гор. Туймазы) to be at the disposal of the Tuymazinsky City Court (Туймазинский городской суд).
28.  In his letter of 22 December 2005, the applicant stated that in Ufa IZ-3/1 pre-trial detention facility, he had mostly been detained, together with three other co-detainees, in buildings nos. 2 and 3 in cells measuring 3x4 metres equipped with two bunk beds. In his cell in building no. 2, there was a pan for use as a lavatory and a washstand just above it, the toilet was not separated from the living area, and the stench from it was unbearable. The inmates had to use a sheet as a partition to afford themselves a small degree of privacy, but even that was later forbidden by the prison authorities. There was no table in the cell. Daily walks lasted generally 30 minutes and exceptionally one hour.